4 College Basketball Coaches Charged With Corruption, Fraud

Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Joon H. Kim, left, and FBI Assistant Director William Sweeney, Jr. announce the arrest of four assistant college basketball coaches on federal corruption charges on Tuesday.

Bebeto Matthews
/ AP

Federal prosecutors charged four college basketball coaches with bribery, fraud, and corruption on Monday. Authorities say the coaches accepted tens of thousands of dollars to steer college basketball players toward specific clothing companies and managing agents.

Coaches at Auburn, Arizona, Oklahoma State, and the University Southern California are named. So are executives of the apparel company Adidas who, along with other agents and financial advisors, allegedly funneled hundreds of thousands of dollars to the families of multiple players in order to persuade them to play for a specific college.

Acting U.S. Attorney for New York’s Southern District Joon Kim said, “The defendants exploited the hoop dreams of student athletes around the country, allegedly treating them as little more than opportunities to enrich themselves.”

Some of the financial advisors involved have previously been accused in financial wrongdoing. Each coaches faces up to 80 years in prison. The financial advisors could each get up to 200 years.